


Lunar Castebooks Posting Commentary and Mechanics

by BurrSquee, Tikor



Category: Exalted
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-01-26 04:13:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12548572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurrSquee/pseuds/BurrSquee, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tikor/pseuds/Tikor
Summary: Mechanics, choices, and design directions that color the Lunar Castebooks fan project.





	1. Introduction to the Lunar Castebooks Project

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings, dear reader. Welcome to the [Lunar Castebooks fan project](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12525268/chapters/28521488) written by Tikor and Burrsquee.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first meta-chapter for the Lunar Castebooks fan project.

We hope you enjoyed that taste, because we have much more to post! Four whole books worth with the following chapters (Solar Castebook chapter analogue in parentheses):

Opening Fiction  
Introduction  
Chapter 1: Through Luna’s Grace (Our Souls Through Our Eyes)  
Chapter 2: The Trials We Face (Obligations of the Caste)  
Chapter 3: Our World, Our Territory (The World Awaiting Us)  
Chapter 4: The Songs They Sing Of Us (Voices Not Our Own)  
Chapter 5: Our Oral History (Dreams of the First Age)  
Chapter 6: Gifts of the [Caste] (Magic of the [CASTE])  
Appendix 1: (Signature Characters)  
Appendix 2: (Other Notable [CASTE])

The Changing Moon, Full Moon, No Moon, and Casteless books will have 6, 6, 4, and 4 signature characters per book respectively, each getting several vignettes and a full character sheet. Notables of each Caste will be presented as well, but in much more abbreviated form. Both signature and notable Lunars will span from young to old, from tribal to urbane, from each tattooed Caste to the Casteless, as is a fitting span of variety for Luna’s Chosen.

This is not a complete game. Castebooks, by their nature, are expansion-type content where the Lunars and those around them reflect on the miracle of their existence. To play the wonderful pastime that is Exalted, you will need the core book, now in its third edition. This fan work makes many references to that tome, as well as to some content in second edition, such as Manual of Exalted Power: Lunars. It is a spiritual continuation of the Caste and Aspect books from first edition. Lunars have never had their society and personages expanded in fiction and crunch to the extent the Solars and Dragon-Blooded have - until now. We humbly hope that Lunar player characters and Storytellers of any chronicle will find this fanwork as inspiring as its forebearers were for Solars and Dragon-Blooded. 

As of this writing, the Lunar splatbook has yet to be released so this series (that you are reading now) will have commentary and mechanics to aid incorporating these Castebooks to your third edition table. If you need a base set of Lunar Charms for a Lunar player character, there are a few conversions/reimaginings on the Exalted forums (such as the one linked at the end). We expect 3e Lunars to surprise and delight us by deviating from the content that came before and from the expanded story threads you read here. Please keep the source of those discontinuities in mind when reading this from the future. 

We hope you enjoy reading the Lunar Castebooks fan project as much as we did writing it.


	2. Shapeshifting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mechanical notes on Third Edition shapeshifting.

Before now, our posting has focused on the narrative thrill of Lunar existence. But, a Castebook would not be complete without some mechanics. Next up are the mechanical additions of Gifts of the Changing Moon and after that the Signature Characters in their full stat’ed glory. There are still plenty of story-inspiring details in the wonders, Charms, and character write-ups, but for a little bit they will be in the background while we get crunchy. Which means we should talk about shapeshifting and the sacred hunt. 

The sacred hunt is assumed to work as described in Lunars 2e page 128. Shapeshifting is assumed to work as described on Exalted 3e Core’s page 545.

In previous editions, Lunars had relatively easy access to a Knack called Prey’s Skin Disguise that allowed the Sacred Hunt to target humans whose shapes the Lunars fancied. These Castebooks take the position that this Knack (or Charm) is rarely taken by modern-day Lunars, mostly by the Changing Moons and veterans of the First Age (mechanically due to it requiring Manipulation 5, Essence 5). Similarly, these Castebooks take the position that Lunars do not have access to any other form acquisition Knacks (or Charms) that expand their Heart’s Blood library beyond humans and animals, consistent with Exalted 3e Core page 545, though form acquisition Charms are assumed to exist to expand which animals and humans are valid targets and for expanding the actions for completing the Sacred Hunt beyond eating their target’s heart’s blood.

There are many reasons, such as lowering the body-snatching paranoia factor against Lunar antagonists, making it fun and surprising when they do morph into humans, preventing anti-heroic actions such as sitting in place as a plant, emphasizing Gaia’s connection to the natural world or Luna’s existence prior to humanity, or separating Lunars from the Abyssal schtick of literally eating people. But ultimately, it is artistic license. You may, if you disagree, keep easy access to Prey’s Skin Disguise and include several human forms among the shapes known by these characters by increasing their listed Heart’s Blood Merit rating.

Further, these Castebooks take the position that there is no longer a distinction between Knacks and Charms. There are many justifications, such as the inherent lack of the Eclipse-OK keyword on Lunar Charms obviating the need for the distinction, or the design decision to move away from Attribute-crossing Charm trees that either limit player attainment or trend certain Attribute loadouts. But, mostly, Occam’s razor for that one. Knack is retained as a keyword to indicate that this Charm somehow benefits shapeshifting or the sacred hunt.

Heart’s Blood animal and human forms interact with Attributes as listed in Lunars 2e page 126-127. Also see the sidebar ‘Charm Concept: Natural Attributes’ on Lunars 2e page 128. As most animal write-ups don’t explicitly list an animal’s Strength, Stamina, or Appearance, treat their Appearance as 1, their Stamina as their soak value, and their Strength as their lowest damage value minus 7. This will often result in Strengths and Staminas above 5, which reflect animals’ different physical limits than humans’. 

True forms have some advantages over Heart’s Blood forms, first, being a reflexive action to assume instead of simple, and second, the true human form does not require motes to change into. Due to Deadly Beastman Transformation being a simple Charm, the fact that it is a true form is more metaphysical than mechanical, the only mechanical bonus it gains is that being a Charm it can be flurried with an attack, something other true forms don’t need explicitly stated due to their reflexive timing. True forms share the downside of displaying the moonsilver tattoos by default. 

Finally, for the purpose of enhancing the flat difficulty of 7 to notice a tell, when the Lunar is aware someone may be attempting to spot her tell, the Lunar may enhance this value as if it were her Guile.


	3. Castes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On gaining and using a fixed Lunar Caste.

A few details are missing from the Lunar antagonist section of Exalted 3e for folks who would like to play Lunar player characters (which is expected!), or simply those who would like to run Lunar antagonist with an emphasis on Caste. To help readers understand the content of the Signature Characters chapters of these Castebooks, here are a few rules to consider.

Like the Solars’ Castes, Lunar Castes are somewhat overlapping and flexible. This overlap appears in the Attributes instead of the Abilities, of course. We have chosen to mirror the Supernal mechanic to Supernal Attributes, which grant an effective Essense of 5 for purchasing Charms of that Attribute. Each tattooed Lunar may then choose a Favored Attribute that is not one of their Caste Attributes, even the fourth on their Caste list that they declined. Caste Attributes and Supernal choice lists are given below for the three Second Age fixed Castes of Lunars:

Full Moon: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Wits

Changing Moon: Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance, Dexterity

No Moon: Perception, Intelligence, Wits, Charisma

Casteless will be expanded upon concurrent with their Castebook’s release. We have chosen not to write Caste Attribute lists for the First Age Castes, so feel free to make your own (though Dreams of the First Age: Lords of Creation page 17 and 18 should be pretty helpful)

All Lunars gain the Anima abilities listed on page 112 of Lunars 2e. Caste-specific and 3e-ized Anima abilities are as below. As a mechanical reminder, bonuses granted by effects other than Charms are inherently non-Charm bonuses unless otherwise specified - they do not interact with Charm limits.

 **The Full Moon Anima** abilities are all permanent in nature, always present, and perfectly preserved from their First Age version:  
0a (Dim) - Full Moon Lunars permanently gain +1 natural soak. They are simply hardier due to their embrace of Luna’s most warlike phase.  
1a (Glowing) - When a Full Moon Lunar’s Caste begins to show, so does their resolve. The first time a Full Moon Lunar’s Castemark appears in a scene, they gain +1 temporary Willpower.  
2a (Burning) - While a Full Moon Lunar’s Anima is burning or higher, they gain an additional mote per round of combat (usually resulting in 6 instead of the normal 5). Ignore this bonus if the Full Moon doesn’t happen to be in combat.  
3a (Iconic) - Every time a Full Moon Lunar’s Anima flares Iconic, they gain +1 initiative, tweaking every advantage out of the brilliant light that springs forth and blinds their enemies. Ignore this bonus if the Full Moon doesn’t happen to be in combat.

 **The Changing Moon Anima** abilities are a collection with little consistency of application beyond the theme of concealment, which is the best that could be salvaged from the broken Castes:  
0a (Dim) - The Changing Moons embrace change in their very soul. Permanently reduce the cost of shapeshifting by 1 mote regardless of Anima level (usually from 4 motes to 3).  
1a (Glowing) - When a Changing Moon expends enough Essence to light up their Castemark, they may instantly and reflexively spend one level of their anima on suppressing it, going back to Dim. A mere flash is shown when the Changing Moon chooses to do this, no lasting Castemark glow.  
2a (Burning) - When a Changing Moon expends enough Essence to burn their Anima, they may instantly and reflexively spend two levels of their anima on suppressing it and freely (reflexively using 0 motes) changing shape, going back to Dim.  
3a (Iconic) - Once Iconic, the Changing Moon may burn their Anima for triple effect. They may spend three levels of anima to supplement a move action to teleport instead of travel their movement, gaining both the opportunity and +3 successes to re-establishing stealth, and may freely (reflexively using 0 motes) shapeshift, reducing their Anima to Dim.

 **The No Moon Anima** abilities are all simple actions, taking thought and concentration from the No Moon to enact. They differ from the First Age’s No Moon Caste, which was created before the Exalted mastered Sorcery, and some of the Waxing Moon Caste was mixed in to fill out pieces that could not be salvaged or made from whole cloth:  
0a (Dim) - The No Moon Lunars may call upon the Silver Chair’s Wyld-banishing powers to break a shaping effect for 15 motes as a simple action, no matter their Anima level, even if the shaping effect is not Wyld in nature.  
1a (Glowing) - Luna’s mark signifies a Lunar’s place in the spirit hierarchy, and No Moon Lunars may use this to demand that a spirit materialize before them for 20m when their Castemarks are glowing or higher. The spirit must materialize using their materialize Charm, willing or not, though they gain a 20m discount for doing so. Should the spirit not have the motes to materialize even with this discount, Luna herself supplies the difference from her vast Cult.  
2a (Burning) - When a No Moon Lunar’s Anima burns freely, the path to merging their own motes and those of sorcery becomes open. After taking this action in a scene while their Anima is burning or higher, the No Moon may freely and without limit spend personal or peripheral motes as sorcerous motes when taking a shape sorcery action as an additional shaping ritual. Additionally, any scene in which their Anima is burning counts as a scene where a mentor is available to teach Terrestrial or Celestial sorcery to the No Moon, and they may initiate to Terrestrial or Celestial sorcery via their own Animas.  
3a (Iconic) - A No Moon Lunar in the grip of their Iconic Anima sees the hidden ways of Luna’s passage through her lover Gaia. She may, if she is in any part of Creation less than Pure Chaos, expend motes equal to her personal mote pool to disappear from her current location and appear at any Lunar Demesne or Manse in Creation that she has visited which still stands and holds true to Luna’s aspect.

No Anima abilities are given for Waxing, Waning, or Half-Moons, as they are out of scope for these character writeups. They will be detailed in the Casteless mechanics chapter.

 **Sorcerous Initiation**  
Sorcery by Luna’s Light, the No Moon Anima Moonsilver Tattoo Initiation  
You have deciphered the instructions on sorcery burning from your No Moon moonsilver tattoos as they were laid down by the Lunar sorcerers who fixed the broken Castes long ago. That mystical knowledge has either initiated you to sorcery, or strengthened your mastery of it. Whether you did so on your own or under the guidance of a mentor who helped you read your own sorcerous inheritance, you can now fulfill the promise of bringing change as a No Moon with sorcerous spells and workings.

Shaping Rituals:  
As the Lunars who are closest to the spirit world (usurped from the Waxing Moons of old) the No Moons are often called upon to pray to spirits large and small. However, the ways of Essence and prayer are a path Luna can divert as easily as any. Any Cult the sorcerer helps propriate grants her one sorcerous mote per day of active benefaction, a small embezzlement of the power channeled to the spirits under the sorcerer’s care. The Lunar may pray herself, becoming a Cult of one. Doing so entails spending her entire day praying in monotonous supplication to a spirit, so most Lunars find spending a scene supporting an organization mostly devoted to prayer as the easier alternative. These motes last so long as the Cult does, up to a maximum of the Cult rating. The Lunar may use this shaping ritual simultaneously on as many different Cults as she has Essence. This emphasis on separate Cult institutions has furthered the splintering of faiths that grant each of Luna’s thousand faces their due reverence.

The Lunar’s own shapechanging prowess and their tie to their protean god/goddess infuses their sorcery. Whenever the sorcerer initiates a spell that would result in a Shaping effect, they gain their Essence in sorcerous motes immediately committed to that spell.

Finally, this special insight into their own moonsilver tattoos help them spread the markings that transform Casteless Lunars into their rightful Caste. When performing the moonsilver tattoo sorcerous ritual, reduce the difficulty of the roll by 1 (even when attempting a Tattoo Artifact), gain +1 die to each roll, and you never treat the moonsilver tattoo working as Beyond the Boundaries. 

Other Benefits  
Reputation, Castemarker (Merit 1) - Within the Silver Pact you are known for your superior ability to tattoo young Lunars that have been retrieved. You are contacted to do so on occasion, and likely have a few favors piled up from previous such workings. 

Anima Resonance (Merit 2) - Due to your deep, sorcerous understanding of your own Anima, whenever you activate an Anima ability that costs motes you may roll Intelligence+Occult, reducing the cost of that ability by the successes rolled as an obvious effect where you pull motes from your surroundings. You may also spend any banked sorcerous motes to pay the cost (without the obvious tag). 

Tattoo Artist (Merit 3) - When attempting a moonsilver tattoo sorcerous working, the sorcerer gains their Essence in non-Charm successes to each roll. This bonus does apply when attempting a Tattoo Artifact. The Lunar’s tattooing style is a work of art, and is instantly recognizable to the initiated. Any other sorcerer who has seen two instances of tattoos that you have made can instantly associate the two.

\- -  
Speaking of sorcery and workings, these Castebooks take the position that the moonsilver tattooing ritual is a sorcerous working, not a Charm. The working requires a Casteless Lunar Exalt and moonsilver, always resulting in a fixed Caste Lunar. It has Ambition 1 (goal number 25) for Celestial Sorcerers; Terrestrial Sorcerers treat this as Beyond the Boundaries (3e Core pg 488). The finesse is 1 for fixing any Caste Luna sees fit to bestow the Lunar, 3 if the sorcerer has a Caste in mind, 5 if the Lunar is attempting to include a Tattoo Artifact rating 2-5, and 10 if the Tattoo Artifact’s rating is N/A. Characters who grant Luna the right to determine a Lunar’s Caste only roll to see how long the sorcerous ritual takes and how severe any Botch results are. Characters attempting for a specific Caste and failing (without botching) instead have the storyteller choose the Caste of their Lunar mentee. Failures of Tattoo Artifacts and botch results are further discussed below.

Common Means include:  
*Occult 5 or 3+ with Specialty Luna: Understanding Luna's shifting nature allows the sorcerer to fix the Lunar's Caste with superior skill.  
*Survival 5 or 3+ with Specialty Wyld: Understanding the Wyld that originally broke the Lunar Castes allows the sorcerer to fix the Lunar's Caste with superior skill.  
*Assistance from others that are Celestial Circle sorcerers or have the above skills or specialties (usually other Lunars, but neither the sorcerer attempting the working nor those aiding them need be blessed by Luna).  
*(Extra Time) Putting the Casteless Lunar through a series of trials to determine what Caste they are best suited towards.  
*(Exotic Components) Knowledge of the Lunar Exaltation's last unbroken Caste  
*(Sorcerous Infrastructure) Any Lunar-Aspected Manse or Demesne

A Casteless Lunar and moonsilver do not count as Means; they are required components to attempt the working at all.

When creating Tattoo Artifacts, the Lunar is marking their unblooded Lunar with moonsilver which is represented by rolling dice, then comparing the results of that roll to the roll’s difficulty, then adding successes to the goal number, just like any extended roll. The difference is that because the action is both a sorcerous working and the crafting of an Artifact the same roll result is compared to _two_ difficulties and there are _two_ different goal numbers to reach! The sorcerous working and finishing Artifact rolls are rolled as one attempt using the lower of the two relevant pools (Intelligence+Occult for the working, Intelligence+Craft(Artifact) for the Tattoo Artifact) against their own difficulties (typically 5 for the Artifact roll, and determined by Finesse for the working, again typically 5) every terminus, with the terminus being the lower terminus between the two (Often a minimum of 5 because of the Superior Project’s base Terminus of 6, and the sorcerous working’s base terminus of 5, but often at least 1 Means is used to increase this to 6). Charms to enhance Artifact creation or sorcerous workings are _both_ applicable, enhancing _any_ aspect of the extended roll as it applies to _both_ objectives (though they are still subject to Charm limitations, see Exalted 3e page 251). Success on both goals means the Lunar gains their Caste as defined by the Finesse of the working and the Artifact as desired by the crafter.

Failure of the Artifact goal number while success in the sorcerous working goal indicates that the tattoo is applied with no artifact inlaid, though the pattern may still suggest what the sorcerer craftsman was attempting. 

Failure of the working while success in the Artifact indicates that _an_ Artifact was created and permanently attached to the Lunar _but_ the created Artifact has a different effect than intended in addition to the storyteller choosing the Caste of the Lunar (bracers may instead be smashfists, chainmail may instead be a stealth enhancing cloak, evocations may have an entirely different flavor). Failure of both results in no Artifact and is otherwise the same as failing the working, typically a mess of wasted Moonsilver that washes off the Lunar the next time they bathe representing what was supposed to be an Artifact, but an otherwise functional and Storyteller assigned Caste for the new Lunar.

Botches, when the project as a whole is still successful, result in a wide variety of effects the storyteller and player should collaborate on, usually represented as Flaws. Perhaps the moonsilver tattoos gain sentience and then behaves similar to a demonic coadjutor (see 2e Infernals) that spouts the verbal randomness of the Wyld at inappropriate times, sometimes with cutting insight and other times incomprehensibly. Perhaps the Artifact has some deleterious effect like being so heavy the Lunar cannot fly even in avian forms. Perhaps the Lunar's Limit track manifests temporary, cosmetic signs of Chimerism as it increases, only to fade once the Lunar’s Limit reduces. Tattoo-related Flaws such as Permanent Castemark (the Moonsilver of the tattoo indicating their Caste prominently displayed in all forms) or Easily Spotted Tell (catching even low light and flashing silver, reducing the difficulty to spot the Tell by 3 and not requiring observers to have previous knowledge of the Lunar’s Tell) are very appropriate. If this happens to a player, the storyteller is encouraged to give them the appropriate Flaw (or Flaw: Imperfect Tattoos it nothing else seems to fit) at an appropriate level and compensatory xp when it hinders them like any other Flaw.

Botched rolls on _failed_ tattooings, Tattoo Artifact attempt or no, in addition to any of the above Flaws, often scar the Lunar permanently, preventing them from _ever_ having working tattoos and dooming them to eventual Chimerism if they spend time in the Wyld changing forms. Though they gain a permanent Caste, they do not _and never can_ gain the Shaping and Chimerism-preventing effects of functional moonsilver tattoos. Despite this, to outward appearances, the tattoos are visually similar to other moonsilver tattoos, the moonsilver still takes hold under their skin, and the descent into Chimerism is usually a dreadful surprise for these Lunars and others around them. For this reason No Moons strongly discourage any other Caste from performing the tattooing ritual generally and the Artifact enhanced version in particular. They also take special care to mentor No Moons on the proper techniques (resulting in Occult specialties for sorcerous workings, or just high Occult scores generally among No Moons) to prevent this horrible fate.


	4. Experience and Excellencies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On advancing Lunar characters.

**Experience**  
A clever reader may calculate that some of the characters listed here have assets on their character sheet below or above the experience range their Essence implies. To such a reader, we remind them that the narrative of the character, not the mechanics of character creation outlined in Exalted 3e, have defined the signature character write-ups. If that answer still does not suit, we would remind them that their Charm list should be considered incomplete, just a flavorful sample to help Storytellers run the character, and that some of the Merits on their sheet can be assumed to have been earned during play.

However, even if a reader has no compunction with the method of derivation of the values listed, they still might be inappropriate for the reader’s table. The Lunars listed in each Castebook are spread across a range of power, reflecting the great differences in the age and experience of Lunars in Creation. If the flavor of one of the Lunars makes them a great inclusion to the table but they are either too powerful to have alongside your player characters, or not powerful enough to fill the role of challenging them, keep in mind the Golden, Orichalcum, and Storyteller rules of Exalted 3e page 182, and feel free to change or ignore the listed statistics. Strength of Many may be too slow to land his powerful hits against any of your quick circle, or Tamuz may outshine the table’s budding general with his focused panoply of Artifacts and devoted, large army. 

If you plan to use these characters to jumpstart your own Lunar game by adopting them as player characters, we suggest that you select Lunars of equal Essence who will be roughly the same power level. Also, here some suggested rules for character advancement:

Lunars may gain Solar xp, but with different criteria due to thier different Castes:

Full Moon: Using a feat of strength to promote a Major or Defining Intimacy, Defeating a powerful foe, Defending a packmate through martial skill, Subduing a rival to promote a Major or Defining Intimacy, Enduring hardship to promote a Major or Defining Intimacy.

Changing Moon: Convincing another significant person or group to adopt or promote one of your Major or Defining Intimacies (at any resulting strength on her target, including Minor), Misleading/Blackmailing/Coercing others into actions that promote one of your Major or Defining Intimacies. Leading or influencing a society to thrive through your own (direct or indirect) actions. Caring for or positively transforming a land that you own or to which you have a Major or Defining Tie.

No Moon: Materially helping a packmate or a significant group with mystical knowledge (such as Tattooing a Casteless, crafting your packmate an Artifact, or teaching a tribe about a spirit propitiation ritual to stop a spirit's predation), Discovering a previously unknown threat to yourself or a Major or Defining Intimacy, Convincing a member of the spirit world to promote, serve, or aid a mostly or fully human society, Finding a solution to a problem that doesn't involve anybody important getting killed or maimed (read: usually another Lunar), Nursing a packmate back to health.

Casteless: Any action that promotes your autonomy. Nobody puts baby in a corner.

The experience tables for Lunar character advancement are as per 3e Solars on page 177 except for the following changes:  
Caste/Favored Attribute increase current rating X3  
Lunar Charms cost 10xp (8 if in a Caste or Favored Attribute*)

The training time tables for Lunar character advancement are as per 3e Solars on page 177 except for the following changes:  
Caste/Favored Attribute (new rating) weeks  
Caste or Favored Lunar Charms (Attribute minimum days)

Martial Arts Charms are considered Favored if the Lunar Favors either the Martial Arts Ability _or*_ the Dexterity Attribute. Spells are considered Favored if the Lunar Favors either the Occult Ability _or*_ the Intelligence Attribute. Their inability to reach the pinnacle of either discipline is penalty enough.  
*Both of these or’s are inclusive or’s.

 **Excellencies**  
These Casetebooks take the position that the Lunar Excellencies, being more broadly applicable than the Solar Excellencies, are less easily acquired. As a tweak to the rules found on Exalted 3e page 255, Lunars learn the Lunar Excellency of an Attribute for free once they have _two_ Charms that require minimums from that Attribute. They gain no Excellencies for merely having dots in Favored or Caste Attributes. 

Each signature Lunar’s Excellencies, and how they tend to use them are detailed in the Charms section of the signature characters chapter. The signature character may not have that many Charms of the appropriate Attribute detailed. Assume that they know some other Charms they use rarely when Excellencies are listed beyond what this rule would imply. This rule is more for player character Lunars at tables who might need an Excellency gaining ruling. For comparison, this puts Lunars at 18 minimum Charms to know all their Excellencies to the Solars’ 15. Further, assuming the Lunar has a fixed Caste, 8 of those Lunar Charms would be in the Lunar’s Caste or Favored Attributes and thus discounted, whereas the Solars would be buying all 15 of those Charms at full price. 

**The Eclipse Tag**  
These Casetbooks take the stance that there are some Charms the Lunars have crafted that they explicitly want others to know. It will appear (very sparingly) on some Charms, most having to do with protecting Gaia and her children.


	5. Solar Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Lunars' bonded mates.

These Castebooks take the position that the Solar Bond is a Flaw, not a Merit. Each Lunar who exhibits this Flaw is uniquely vulnerable to continued intimacy with their bonded Solar (or Abyssal, or Infernal), as Ignis Divine intended so that Luna’s predilection for insubordination did not manifest in her children to trouble the Solar leaders who led the Exalted Host through the Primordial War. Yet, since so much time has passed and so much has happened since Luna set this Flaw upon her children, Lunars feel this reflexive deference with less fervor than when the geas was new. Lunars now feel the Solar Bond unevenly among their number, and some not at all.

Solar Bond Flaw - Minor, Major or Defining.  
Each Lunar player may choose their level of Solar Bond at character generation given storyteller approval, just like any Flaw. Some Lunars, especially elders who remember the mad Solars of old and those who have seen Abyssal and Infernal behavior firsthand, attempt to limit their contact with such beings so that their Bond does not show itself. But even though this is mechanically represented as a Flaw, and should grant experience points when it inconveniences the Lunar in play, many other Lunars do not see their bonds to their Solars (or Abyssals, or Infernals) as something that needs fixing. In a world where they are empowered to be anything, the companionship they often find at their Solar's side gives them the direction to be _something_. A vain demand by the Unconquered Sun to Luna at the dawn of the Primordial War has grown from simple assurance of loyalty in testing times to a constant of Creation, known and sung about even in this Second Age of Man. Who but a Lunar could survive the lonely paths Solars choose to tread, providing companionship to those who have lost touch with everything else? How much more terrible would the Solar’s wrath have been had not a Lunar been able to whisper in their ear, turning them from self destructive choices? Among the Silver Pact, especially the Sun King Seneschals, the anchor and purpose granted by the Solar Bond was sorely missed until recently, though few Lunars will admit to it. Yet, for each Lunar brought to the heights of glory by their bond, another is drug to the depths of their bonded Solar's madness. Worse yet, some Solars have been reborn serving powerful masters with which the Lunar must contend for their once-Solar’s love. The Lunar player should take this flaw to signal to their Storyteller how much, if any, they'd like the Solar bond to feature in their story. Other Merits, such as Allies or Mentor, or Flaws such as Rival, may overlap the Solar Bond to color it more concretely. Note that the Intimacy levels below may always be raised to a higher level during play like any other Intimacy - they simply have a lower bound based on the level of the Solar Bond.

None - Some quirk of Fate or magic has eliminated the bond placed on you by Luna. Ignis Divine's 'request' no longer holds you. You have no special connection to any Solar, Abyssal, or Infernal. You are free to define your thoughts on them as you wish.

Minor - You will always have at least a Minor Intimacy, a Positive Tie to your bonded Solar, Abyssal, or Infernal. If you have not yet met your Solar in this life, it is dormant until you do. At first meeting you recognize the Solar as a friend, one you'd never abandon. It is up to you if you become the best of friends, or even intimate life partners, strengthening the Intimacy from Minor to Major or Defining. But it can never fall below Minor, and never be negative. Your Solar is that friend whose actions never go far enough to deserve abandoning or hating, no matter how much they might deserve it by betraying that friendship.

Major - You will always have at least a Major Intimacy, a Positive Tie to your bonded Solar, Abyssal, or Infernal. If you have not yet met your Solar in this life, it is dormant until you do. At first meeting you recognize the Solar as family, one with your blood. It is up to the two of you what type of family connection results - sibling or spouse, parent or child, but it is always an immediate family connection, not a distant relative. This Intimacy can never fall below Major, and never be negative. The Solar is that family member who you could never bear to disown, no matter how much they might bring you disgrace.

Defining - You will always have a Defining Intimacy, a Positive Tie to your bonded Solar, Abyssal, or Infernal. If you have not yet met your Solar in this life, it is dormant until you do. At first meeting you recognize the Solar as your one true love, your soulmate. It is up to you what type of shape this love takes, soulmate, hero-worship, spiritual guide, favored child, or father of your children, but it is always love. This Intimacy can never fall below Defining, and never be negative. You are still your own person, but an argument aimed at benefiting your Solar is a very easy way to influence your actions, and you would protect them from harm with your life (even against their wishes). Your Solar is the person for whom you believe you were made. They are your anchor in a chaotic world, they are your North star when you are lost at sea, they are what you would protect with your whole being. Even if they betray your devotion, even if centuries of mistreatment test your bond, it will not break or lessen. You will feel the bond's influence on your actions at maximum intensity from the moment you meet your Solar through your entire life.


	6. Crafting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the making of wonders.

These Castebooks take the position that crafting is conducted using the Exalted 3e rules as written. Further, there are only 6 Crafting abilities that we use, 5 mundane and 1 reserved for Artifacts, and the rest of the Crafting types are considered specialties to reduce the Ability xp required for someone to embody the master craftsman concept. They are Craft (Armor), Craft (Weapons), Craft (Structures), Craft (Jewelry), Craft (Food), and Craft (Artifact). This requires some broad interpretation to encompass all things craftable - we consider tattoos and clothing as armor (of the spiritual and cultural type, respectively) and intricate Essence tools as jewelry, such as scanners or projection devices, due to their fragile nature. Similarly, weaving fine and varied meals out of Quintessence and Ambrosia is considered Craft (Food), or if making other things from the meat and drink of the gods’ solid prayers, the lower of Craft (Food) and the Craft suitable for the thing being created. These can get close to other abilities, like Craft (Food) and Survival. The line we assume is that Survival will enable you to find nuts and berries, or hunt something and field strip it, eating its meat raw or charred for sustenance, but Craft (Food) allows you to turn that raw material into something delectable or preserved. Some devices, such as reality engines (typically as large as a house and full of moving parts) fall under many designations, in this case all of Craft (Structures), Craft (Jewelry) and Craft (Artifact) or warstriders which would be all of Craft (Armor), Craft (Jewelry) and Craft (Artifact) due to their primary purpose as armor but also being an Artifact that has delicate internal mechanisms. In those cases, use the lowest rating among the overlap to determine dicepools. 

When converting prior edition material that may reference an element craft type, treat Craft (Armor) as Water, Craft (Weapons) as Fire, Craft (Structures) as Earth, Craft (Jewelry) as Air, and Craft (Food) as Wood. Magitech, Biogenesis, Fate, and other life-oriented or Essence-focused crafting should be considered Craft (Artifact); each are perfectly acceptable specialties of Craft (Artifact). Geomancy, previously an Occult specialty, is now a Craft (Structures) specialty.

Building Manses we consider similar to constructing Artifacts, using the same system, but with a few minor differences and clarifications. A 3-dot Manse is considered a Superior Project with a goal number of 50, and a 5-dot Manse is considered a Superior Project with a goal number of 100. The mundane Craft is always Craft (Structures). Building or enhancing Demesnes are similar. Creating a 2-dot Demesne from ambient Dragon-lines is considered a Superior Project with a goal number of 30, and its Aspect is restricted to the naturally occurring Aspects of that realm (such as the elements for Creation). Changing the Aspect of a Demesne is considered a Major Project, with a difficulty of the Demesne’s rating +1 if the Aspect matches the ambient Dragon-lines (such as an elemental Aspect in Creation) or +2 if it does not (such as an elemental Aspect in Autochthonia, or a Lunar Aspect in Creation). The appropriate Craft for this project is the lower of the crafting player’s Craft (Structures) and Craft (Artifact). Upgrading a Demesne from 2 to 4 dots is considered a Superior Project with a goal number of 75. Finally, Upgrading a Demesne from 4 to N/A is considered a Legendary Project, changing an N/A Demesne’s Aspect is considered a Superior Project with a goal number of 100, and constructing an N/A Manse is also a Legendary Project.


	7. Linguistics and Clawspeak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange marks in bark.

A sharp reader of the Full Moon signature character chapter will note that Clawspeak, a purely written language, is known by several Lunars who are illiterate. 

Clawspeak is _intended_ as a written language for the illiterate. While it does have a grammar and a vocabulary rivaling other secret languages such as Guild Cant or Dragontongue, it is, at its heart, a series of symbols that are visually distinct from each other. Gathering-North looks nothing like Mad-God-South. Any Lunar, no matter how much they are challenged with words, can learn enough Clawspeak to find the local Gathering and to read simple warnings left by other Lunars. With a Linguistics rating of 0 they are still rather ineffective at written argument, but that is rarely what the language is used for - mostly it conveys raw facts to other Lunars who need little persuasion to trust what is written.


	8. Lunar God-Blooded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The god-blooded children of Lunars

Third Edition does not yet have its analogue to Scroll of Heroes for the creation of god-blooded characters. So, as we’ve included some Lunar god-blooded characters in the Full Moon Castebook, here are some guidelines used in their creation. 

These Castebooks take the stance that god-bloodedness is modular in nature. Two god-blooded children, even from the same divine and mortal parental pair, could be vastly different in the way they express their Inheritance. These differences are described by Innate Merits. In short, god-blooded are mortals, except where their Merits differentiate them (such as the Exalted healing Merit on 3e Core page 165, or various beastman merits). Here are a few such Merits to create god-blooded, Lunar or otherwise, of your own. 

**Merits:**  
Enlightened Essence - Innate/Story Merit, 3 dots or 5 dots  
Some god-blooded leave the womb with the understanding and power to command Essence, though untrained, like a babe uses their voice to cry and their mouths to suckle. They are, like spirits, born of Essence. This can make for mischievous, reverent, or isolated childhoods depending how how the god-blooded child chooses to use their powers and how the adults of their community ignore, embrace, or shun their budding legend. 

Others simply carry the potential to master their Essence, but have not yet had the proper stimulation to do so, similar to an Exaltation. Many god-blooded find grasping their Essence later in life easier than the rare mortal who manages to brave the Wyld or experience an epiphany into their own Essence (non-god-blooded mortals may purchase this Merit at 5 dots). But, since there are so many more mortals in the world, even these rare mortals tend to eclipse Enlightened god-blooded in number as a group. 

Merely having access to an Essence pool allows the god-blooded the ability to attune to Artifacts, Demesnes, and Manses with their divine parent’s Resonance and Dissonance affinities. Mortals have no Resonance and are considered Dissonant to all materials except yellow Jade. Combined with other backgrounds (such as Martial Artist or Legacy Excellencies and Charms) they can gain access to effects that draw on their Essence for even greater effect. This Merit grants one Essence pool of EssenceX10, which is by default personal. 

Legacy Excellencies and Charms - Innate, 1 or 5 dots  
At 1 dot, the god-blooded may learn to enhance their actions using the Excellencies of their divine parent. They must be learned at the experience cost and training time listed for a Charm of their divine parent’s type. Increase the non-Essence minimums on the Excellency Charm by 2 (for Lunars, this means they must have 3 in the Excellency’s Attribute instead of 1. This impacts training times). 

At 5 dots, the god-blooded’s connection to their divine parent allows the god-blooded to learn Charms of their parent’s type as if they were that type of being. Learning these Charms never grants free Excellencies, they must still be purchased with the limitations of the 1-dot version of this Merit (though the 5 dot version includes access to this capability).

This Merit does not have a pre-requisite of Enlightened Essence. While access to Charms and Excellencies is certainly more advantageous when combined with that Merit, Charms that require no Essence expenditure (such as Ox-Body Technique or Terrestrial Circle Sorcery) may be learned and provide benefits without Enlightened Essence. Charms that do require Essence may still be learned, but cannot be activated without some external source of Essene to power them.

Caste and Anima - Innate/Story, 3 dots, prerequisite: Enlightened Essence  
A god-blooded with the Caste and Anima merit wears a Castemark and has access to an Anima of their divine parent’s type. This includes both general effects (such as spending one mote to know the precise day of the Lunar month) and specific effects (such as gaining 1 permanent Soak for Full Moons). It need not match the Caste of their actual parent. God-blooded with this Merit treat all of their motes as peripheral motes (god-blooded without this Merit treat all their motes as personal motes). Lunar god-blooded with this Merit are Casteless to begin, cycling through all the First Age Lunar Castes in step with the phases of the moon, though since they defaultly lack a Limit track they find this state of being less troublesome than their parents. Lunar god-blooded with this Merit can be marked with moonsilver tattoos to fix their Caste and for protection against mutation (Lunar god-blooded without this Merit are ineligible for moonsilver tattoos, as they have no Caste to fix, though a similar Artifact Tattoo could be affixed to them without a Castemark being involved).

Luna’s Sacred Hunt - Innate, 2 dots  
Lunar god-blooded with this Merit can initiate the Sacred Hunt and accumulate a Shapes Library. They also find Charms with the Knack keyword more useful, should they also have the Legacy Excellencies and Charms Merit at 5 dots. 

**Flaws:**  
Limit Track - Innate, Major  
The god-blooded has inherited the curse cast upon their divine parent, suffering all the drawbacks of a Limit track including a Limit Trigger and all the default ways to gain limit of their parent type (for Solars, see 3e Core page 134, for Lunars, see 2e Lunars page 121).

Solar Bond - Innate, Minor  
The god-blooded has inherited the deference to a Solar that marks her divine parent. Unlike their parent, they cannot be as strongly bonded to their Solar, only able to reach the Minor level of Solar Bond. This bond always targets their Lunar parent’s Solar. That the Solar Bond is even partially heritable is as much of an unintended consequence of the Primordial War as god-blooded themselves are.

 **Artifacts:**  
Essence Wellspring of the Willful Soul, Artifact 2 or 3  
This Artifact allows those god-blooded or mortals unlucky enough to lack Essence of their own to channel their will to overcome that limitation, or Exalted or Spirits to tap into reserves of Essence hidden in their will. Whether because they live in a society that values motes of Essence highly, such as Malfeas or Creation’s First Age, or because they would benefit from any or additional motes to use in their own Charms, they have created or been gifted this Artifact to do so. Essence Wellsprings of the Willful Soul cost 1 Willpower to attune.

They are uniformly constructed of yellow Jade, though their morphology is varied beyond that. Some are circlets, some are bracelets, some are collars, some anklets, but they are all circular and feature an empty circle somewhere within their length. When activated, this empty circle glows with Essence as an Obvious effect bright enough to ready by that possesses the brilliance to penetrate concealment like a Castemark.

Each point of Willpower reflexively spent on the Essence Wellspring of the Willful Soul grants 5 personal motes that must be spent immediately or they are lost. Even beings with Essence pools that use this Artifact cannot use it to charge their Essence pool or pools. These motes can be used as committed motes, but this also commits the Willpower that generated them, and the empty circle glows with Essence as an Obvious effect for the duration of the commitment. 

The artificers of Ysyr have a variation that produces sorcerous motes instead of personal motes allowing battle-mages to cast their offensive and defensive spells frighteningly fast, though they burn out quickly. Rumors exist that they have even improved upon this basic design to allow either personal motes or sorcerous motes to be created from a single Wellspring. Such dual-purpose Artifacts are rating 3.


	9. Castelessness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mechanics beyond the three Castes of Lunars.

Way back, when we first posted about Castes, we mentioned that we would expand on Castelessness closer to that Castebook’s posts. That time is now. This post has some more info about those who have not embraced the Silver Pact’s tattoos.

Casteless have no fixed set of Caste attributes and Casteless do not gain a Supernal Attribute. Instead, they have two Favored Attributes. For all Attribute-based Lunar Charm purchases, they simply consider their Essence as 1 higher when meeting prerequisites. This can result in the Lunar temporarily losing access to some of their powers when they are fixed with a Caste, which can be awkward when a Lunar of the Silver Pact is making their case to a Casteless to accept their tattoos. Preventing this opportunity for resentment towards the moonsilver tattoos is just one more reason that the Silver Pact does their best to retrieve every Lunar it can at a young age.

The Casteless change between the five original Castemarks according the the moon’s cycles. The 1st through the 5th of the month they spend as Waxing Moons, building from the new moon to half, then again from the 7th to the 11th filling out the darker half. They spend only the 6th and the 20th in the Half Moon’s perfect harmony between light and dark. The Full Moon lights their brows from nights 12-14. The Waning Moon takes its place on the nights 15-19 and 21-25. Finally, the hollow No Moon’s original light springs forth on nights 26-28 and every night of Calibration. Each change occurs on the new phase’s first nightfall.

It is the imperfection and shorthand of the moonsilver tattoos that reduce the fixed Lunar Castes to three. The Changing Lady still has five faces she shows the world every month, and her unaltered children are in tune with each. The Full Moon is the only fully preserved Anima between the ages - each other Anima features differences.

As a mechanical reminder, bonuses granted by effects other than Charms are inherently non-Charm bonuses unless otherwise specified - they do not interact with Charm limits.

 **First Age Full Moon Anima:**  
0a (Dim) - Full Moon Lunars permanently gain +1 natural soak. They are simply hardier due to their embrace of Luna’s most warlike phase.  
1a (Glowing) - When a Full Moon Lunar’s Caste begins to show, so does their resolve. The first time a Full Moon Lunar’s Castemark appears in a scene, they gain +1 temporary Willpower.  
2a (Burning) - While a Full Moon Lunar’s Anima is burning or higher, they gain an additional mote per round of combat (usually resulting in 6 instead of the 5). Ignore this bonus if the Full Moon doesn’t happen to be in combat.  
3a (Iconic) - Every time a Full Moon Lunar’s Anima flares Iconic, they gain +1 initiative, tweaking every advantage out of the brilliant light that springs forth and blinds their enemies. Ignore this bonus if the Full Moon doesn’t happen to be in combat.

 **First Age Waxing Moon Anima:**  
0a (Dim) - The Waxing Moons are Luna’s priests, and through her thousand faces are priests to all spirits. Reduce the difficulty of efficacious prayer to any spirit by 1 (usually from 7 to 6).  
1a (Glowing) - Luna’s mark signifies a Lunar’s place in the spirit hierarchy, Waxing Moons and Casteless in the Waxing phase may use this to demand that a spirit materialize before them for 20m when their Castemarks are glowing or higher. The spirit must materialize using their materialize Charm, willing or not, though they gain a 20m discount for doing so. Should the spirit not have the motes to materialize even with this discount, Luna herself supplies the difference from her vast Cult.  
2a (Burning) - Many Castes, when aflame with Luna’s light, are terrifying to behold. No so for Luna’s courtiers, the lost Waxing Moons, whom the Casteless sometimes emulate. They exude their animal magnetism in this state, inspiring all by their presence, swaying masses to loyalty, and encouraging daring action with their words. Any social roll to Instill an intimacy related to loyalty, Persuade someone to take actions outside their comfort zone, or Inspire risk-taking gain 2 successes while the Lunar’s Anima is at this level or higher.  
3a (Iconic) - The Waxing Moon mastery of emotion and connection flows forth with their Iconic Anima. Every character treats the Waxing Moon’s Intimacies as her own for the purposes of the Waxing Moon’s social attacks during any scene in which they have witnessed that Lunar’s Iconic Anima.

 **First Age Half Moon Anima:**  
0a (Dim) - The Half Moons dance between yin and yang, abandoning any strategy deemed suboptimal for their read of the situation with no adherence to dogma. This zen extends to their shapeshifting, permanently reducing the cost of shapeshifting by 1 mote regardless of Anima level (usually from 4 motes to 3).  
1a (Glowing) - When a Half Moon expends enough Essence to glow their Castemark, they may supplement their Join Battle roll with dice equal to their Essence. Motes spent enhancing the Join Battle roll that light up the Half Moon Anima to glowing may explicitly trigger this ability on the same roll.  
2a (Burning) - When a Half Moon expends enough Essence to burn their Anima, they feel the contours of the challenge before them with their very Essence, seeing the seed of success even in failure, seeing the possibility of failure even in sure success. Once per scene, any roll they fail while their Anima is burning may be rerolled with the same dice pool - use the higher of the two results. This power may be refreshed by flaring the Half Moon Anima to Iconic.  
3a (Iconic) - The Half Moon’s Iconic Anima is desired and feared by their peers in equal measure. They see the light and the darkness among their friends and foes, passing their judgement. All read intentions actions the Half Moon takes while their Anima is Iconic are perfectly successful, revealing every intimacy of their target. Under such a truth-baring gaze, many paragons have been pardoned from slander, and many powerful figures with secrets to keep have been cast low.

 **First Age Waning Moon Anima:**  
0a (Dim) - It is the nature of the Waning Moon to fade from sight. Any of their attempts at stealth or disguise gain +1 success regardless of their Anima level.  
1a (Glowing) - When a Waning Moon expends enough Essence to light up their Castemark, they may instantly and reflexively spend one level of their anima on suppressing it, going back to Dim. A mere flash is shown when the Waning Moon chooses to do this, no lasting Castemark glow.  
2a (Burning) - When a Waning Moon expends enough Essence to burn their Anima, they may instantly and reflexively spend two levels of their anima on suppressing it and freely (reflexively using 0 motes) changing shape, going back to Dim.  
3a (Iconic) - Once Iconic, the Waning Moon may burn their Anima for triple effect. They may spend three levels of anima to supplement a move action to teleport instead of travel their movement, gaining both the opportunity and +3 successes to re-establishing stealth, and may freely (reflexively using 0 motes) shapeshift, reducing their Anima to Dim.

 **First Age No Moon Anima:**  
0a (Dim) - The No Moon Lunars may call upon the Silver Chair’s Wyld-banishing powers to break a shaping effect for 15 motes as a simple aciton, no matter their Anima level, even if the shaping effect is not Wyld in nature.  
1a (Glowing) - As the Silver Chair watches other worlds, visiting them when it is not alight in the night sky, so too do the No Moon Chosen of Luna. When a No Moon’s Castemark and Anima are glowing or higher, any mystical effort they expend in the form of motes are reduced by half (spending less if odd) on actions that require Occult to be rolled. While not originally intended for sorcery, rather for rooting out the enemies of the gods where they hid, this aspect of the No Moon Anima served the First Age No Moons from Bar-Izahd through to the breaking of the Castes well when shaping spells.  
2a (Burning) - The No Moon Anima of the First Age, when burning or higher, envelops her in obfuscating shadow that shines with a silver edge. While no aid to stealth, the Lunar’s body is hidden within, making attacks against her more difficult. Add +1 to the Lunar’s Defense against any attack that does not target an entire area.  
3a (Iconic) - A No Moon Lunar in the grip of their Iconic Anima sees the hidden ways of Luna’s passage through her lover Gaia. She may, if she is in any part of Creation less than Pure Chaos, expend motes equal to her personal mote pool to disappear from her current location and appear at any Lunar Demesne or Manse in Creation that she has visited which still stands and holds true to Luna’s aspect.

Permanent Limit gain works as described in Lunar 2e on pages 201-202. The Chimera are compelling NPCs, both allies and antagonists, and we have taken the artistic license to keep them for third edition.

A note on the Casteless and Mutation Points:  
As an edit to the mutation point rules in Lunars 2e page 201, every time a Lunar gains Mutation Points by any means, they must choose _either_ a mutation(s) of the values described _or_ they learn a Charm for free that requires exactly their new permanent Limit (which have both positive and negative aspects) at the Storyteller’s decision. We suggest that large mutations be substituted for Charms, which make the path to Chimerism more playable and empowering while still being random and terrifying.

**Author's Note:**

> [A Lunar Homebrew Charmset](http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/exalted/1077697-watch-me-fumble-my-way-through-making-a-charmset-in-yet-another-lunar-homebrew-thread)


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